The Bird Thread

Late to the party dad joke mustelid/curry pun time.

What’s the difference between daal and tarka daal? One’s a little otter.

Superb.

Drove out to a NWT broad that was open today (albeit with a one way system around the reserve) and saw marsh harriers, little egrets and a spoonbill. Also a couple of swallowtail butterflies which was the whole point of the trip.

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More things at dawn yesterday - sedge warbler, reed warbler and reed bunting. I also saw a sparrowhawk and a cuckoo but my photos of them were rubbish.

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Not bird related but the juvenile fin whale stranded in the river dee has Died
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/rescuers-devastated-after-stranded-dee-18418075

There is an animals thread, although when I've posted animal deaths in there it has made BareNecessities sad:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/201417/

Apart from the dead whale, this thread is giving me much joy at the moment. Keep the pictures coming.

Ok tA here is a young barn owl as recompense.

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Yeah, but there's an a owls thread, too:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/154911/

:)

Bird feet are so weird. 2nd Pic is fantastic.

Envious of you - such a great part of the world, should be a good year for swallowtails.

Cheers your majesty. It’s quite tricky doing manual focus through the reeds, I ditched quite a few pics.

A live stream of an osprey nest with chicks in Scotland

https://youtu.be/rgeLp2TX36c

Yeah, I would hope so. We saw 4 or 5 in the space of an hour. All along the paths on milk thistle or bramble flowers right in front of us. Their wings are so large and rigid that they look like carboard rather than being real.

Next on the list of local specialities to see is the fen raft spider.

Spotted a kestrel sat in the tree. Sorry Kestrel Overload of photos.

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Also saw a few other things.

A Linnet, Egret and a Godwit.

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It's a lovely time of year for seeing young birds. On several occasions I've had no idea what something is until I check the bird guide and see that it's a 1st-year version of something I know well. So far in the garden I've seen young great tits, blue tits, dunnocks, wood pigeons, robins, and sparrows (which are hilarious as they descend on the bird feeder as a family).

Friendly robin

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Saw this little bird on the feeder today. looks sort of like a blue tit, but perfectly white. Odd.

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I think that might be a fledgling - some of mine look a bit like that although a bit more yellow, they have very little to no blue colouring.

Looks like a coal tit fledgling, but with a very pale crown?

Or looking around, blue tit fledgling?
https://janeslog.wordpress.com/tag/fledgling/

Seems our blackbird mum is largely unphased by us, if a little grouchy

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Was down at beddington farmlands over the weekend for the first time in a long time.

Reed warbler
Cetti’s warbler
Tree sparrows
Swifts
House Martin
Little ringed plover
Hobby

All without pics as I was mid ride - but it was a great haul for a little stop over. Had forgotten just how nice it was down there.

New to the thread - but are there any ride & birding jaunts that people do around London or its environs?

Sat watching swifts play around a Church Spire. I didn't even pay. 😎